Where the plaintiff sought to patent a system and method for targeting specific content to individual users of a website, his application was properly denied because it was an abstract idea ineligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101. ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a National Science Foundation employee requested no “airborne irritants” in the workplace, which would have included personal hygiene and standard cleaning products, her fatally vague and overbroad request was unreasonable as a matter of law. Background Neysa Call was ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a former Drug Enforcement Agency special agent alleged facts supporting his claim that he was forced to resign after submitting an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint, his retaliatory constructive discharge claim survived the motion to dismiss. Background Eric Katz has ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where an alleged cybersquatter who held the PRU.COM domain name intended to divert customers from Prudential Insurance Company or wanted a six-figure payment for the name, and it had registered other domain names evidencing bad faith, PRU.COM was ordered transferred ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the former Selective Service System employee’s bias and whistleblower claims first needed to be exhausted before the Merit Systems Protection Board, or MSPB, the board failed to act for more than 500 days so the employee could proceed to ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria federal judge has ruled that post-accident evidence can be used in a trial over injuries suffered by a bicyclist when he struck a metal security gate that unexpectedly rose out of the street in front of him. The ...

Tagged with: Bicycle accident Judge T.S. Ellis III

Where the former employee voluntarily retired, the bank prevailed on the claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act because there was no adverse employment action. Background At issue in this Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, or ADEA, ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The employer was denied summary judgment on the ADA retaliation claim because the Fourth Circuit has not resolved whether placing an employee on a performance improvement plan, or PIP, after they engaged in protected conduct, could be an adverse employment ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the disability administrator’s initial letter concluded the applicant was disabled due to a mental condition, but its final determination concluded that he was not, the claim was remanded to the administrator so that the applicant could administratively appeal the ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a Virginia resident whose vehicle struck a motorcycle and killed a 19-year old in the United Kingdom refused to be subject to the service of subpoenas or to the taking of depositions in the United Kingdom, and refused to ...

Tagged with: Judge T.S. Ellis III Negligence U.S. District Court - Eastern District